From Silence
by Snoe
Summary: Veronica was on the bus. Conversations shared by the nearly dead. MegVeronica
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **From Silence

**Author: ** Snoe

**Disclaimers: **I don't own anything.

**Summary: **Veronica was on the bus. Conversations shared by the nearly dead. Meg/Veronica

**Author's Note: **So this is my first VM fic and hopefully I've managed to portray the characters in a more or less believable light. I know there isn't a huge support of this pairing, but I'm mainly writing this for a friend who begged me for some Meg/V. And just for the purpose of this fic, Meg isn't pregnant. Tell me what you think.

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The explosion came completely unexpected, as explosions caused by car bombs generally do. Veronica hadn't exactly been paying attention, still contemplating the fact that one of the nicest girls in school now suddenly thought she was evil incarnate. When the shockwaves shot through the bus she jerked her head up to see the entire front part of the bus completely gone, the bus driver nothing more than a few spattered stains against the windows.

The explosion had also blown out the front tires, dropping the bus onto its carriage, metal screeching as it slid forward to break through the barrier. The drop into the blue ocean was inevitable as was the death that was sure to follow such a crash, yet Veronica's mind was blank as the clear skies before her. She didn't see her life flash before her eyes or think of some inane activity she wished she'd done before she died. Instead she turned her head around, eyes locking with Meg's for the eternity it seemed to take until the bus tipped over the edge and propelled her off her seat onto the floor.

The bus fell front first, its ugly, gaping hole framing the beautiful ocean below, the salty air rushing in to create a whirlwind of papers and trash. Her mind held onto consciousness with an iron grip and she watched, unable to move, as the blue ocean came shooting towards her. She had been in this dream before, she knew, and any second now would she wake up.

The actual fall of the bus took less than three seconds, but to Veronica it might as well have been three hours. She was faintly aware of the screams around her, the pieces of metal as they tore off, whipping against the sides of the bus, the ruthless wind ripping at the cabin. Those students that hadn't gotten wedged between a seat like she had fell freely from the bus, though never faster than it, making it look like they were suspended in mid-air.

The impact wasn't at all like what she had expected. First of all, Veronica had expected to wake up, but the roaring thunder in her ears, the sudden force that seemed to shatter every bone in her body told her that this was no dream. Secondly, Veronica had expected, in the case of it being a real crash, to pass out or die on impact, not to feel the agonizing pressure on her body, hear the roar of the water as it tore apart the bus.

Almost upon contact, the front part of the bus broke off as if it were nothing but a match, sinking into the blue water to leave behind nothing but more paper and broken seat cushions. The back end of the bus, from where Veronica was still witnessing this, hit the rocks with tremendous force, reducing it to nothing but scrap metal and rubber. Veronica felt herself lifted off the floor and thrown backwards as the water came rushing in almost instantaneously, hitting her body against the broken seatbacks.

The water rushed against her, taking her breath and Veronica knew for sure she was going to die. At last, her body allowed her the comforts of unconsciousness.

And for the first time, right before she passed out, she became aware of the cold body she was pressed against.

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Meg opened her eyes to blinding light and blinding pain. Black spots danced before her eyes, the blue skies above bright and blurry. She wasn't really sure whether she was warm or cold, whether the rough surface under her fingers was wet or dry. She knew she was awake, but lucidity escaped her, just somewhere on the edges of her consciousness that she couldn't quite reach.

Closing her eyes against the brightness, she inhaled as deeply as possible, noting the pain in her body for the first time. Her chest felt incredibly heavy and it was hard just taking those few deep breaths. Meg knew exactly what had happened, knew the bus had sailed over the edge of a cliff and taken them all straight to their deaths. What she didn't know was why heaven was her in pain staring helplessly at a sunny, blue sky. Or why it had her ears ringing so badly she thought her head might split open. Meg had to acknowledge that perhaps, for some twisted reason, she had survived a two hundred feet drop off a cliff, just to lie here paralyzed among the wreckage on a rock, waiting to drown when the tide rolled in.

Deciding she might as well try to move, Meg lifted her right arm, feeling a sort of grand satisfaction at the fact that it seemed to work just fine. She looked at her fingers, almost fascinated the way the light broke through, glinting off the waterdrops clinging to her hand. Next she tried to move her left arm, but felt it weighed down by something heavy. Meg reached over to push off whatever was keeping her trapped, but recoiled when she felt the softness of another body. She was trapped under a corpse. Meg nearly panicked in response, her stomach revolting angrily and she had to take another few deep breaths to calm herself down.

This time her hand was shaking as she reached over, and she tentatively brushed her fingers against the body on top of hers. She felt wet strands of hair, realizing it was a girl with some relief. Then Meg noticed that the body was moving ever so slightly, a sign that whoever it was was still breathing. Deciding to ignore the pain in her head Meg moved her neck to the side, now able to see down along her body and whoever had been thrown against her. She gasped in shock when she realized who it was.

"Veronica," she rasped, her throat dry and salty. The blonde was partially draped over Meg's own body, her head on top of Meg's chest, face turned towards her, eyes closed, while her left arm was draped across the other girl's hips. Meg immediately noticed the large piece of metal that had broken off the bus trapping Veronica's lower body beneath it.

Meg tried to shift again, free herself from the weight on top of her, but to no avail. More pain shot through her body and she gasped for breath, wishing the other girl's head wasn't keeping her from breathing normally. Blinking her eyes, she once again tried to clear the spots she saw, wanting desperately to be able to focus on getting herself out of this predicament. She looked down at the blonde once again, noticing for the first time the rivulets of red-tinted water running across Veronica's face.

As the ringing in her ears subsided somewhat, Meg thought she could hear shouts, though she couldn't tell from where. The sun was still incredibly blinding above and she rather preferred looking away from the bright sky. Reaching her hand over again, Meg ran it lightly across Veronica's hair, happy that she could still feel the weak rise and fall of the girl's chest. The blood that covered her fingers when she pulled her hand away, however, made her start to panic. She had to get out of here. They had to get out of here. No matter how harshly she might've treated Veronica for the past few weeks, Meg didn't want her to die.

"Veronica," she said again, a little louder this time and shook the girl's arm slightly. Veronica probably had a head injury, probably shouldn't be moved, but Meg didn't want them to just lay here, dying. It would just be cruel if they survived the crash just to die here, to die like THIS.

If she could've jumped, Meg figured she probably would have, as Veronica groaned and tried to shift on top of her. Meg held her breath as the other girl's eyelids fluttered and her eyes blinked open, then shut again.

"Come on, wake up Veronica," Meg squeezed her arm, hoping desperately to pull the other girl into consciousness.

The blonde blinked again, eyes barely opening before closing again. Veronica drew in a deep breath and coughed, face scrunching up before she opened her eyes again. Blinking a few times, Veronica finally focused on Meg's face above her and frowned.

"How much did we have to drink?" she croaked, trying to assess their current position.

If Meg hadn't been so terrified, she might've chuckled at the other girl's inane need to respond to every situation with some sort of witty comment or sarcasm. As it was, however, she had to try hard to hold the tears back, feeling the seriousness of the situation so much heavier now that Veronica was awake. She looked down at the blonde, their eyes locking and Meg felt her heart thunder in her chest. She was terrified and in pain, yet for some reason her mind still let her be incredibly aware of the awkwardness of the position she was in with someone she'd been considering an enemy for the past few weeks.

"Are you okay?" she asked, instead of the other million things she had in her mind. Meg regretted it instantaneously, of course Veronica wasn't okay, neither of them was.

"Couldn't be better," Veronica responded with a wry grin and tried to shift again. The pain exploded in her body, shooting down her spine and into her legs and Veronica bit her lip to keep from crying out. Meg looked at her, clearly able to see the pain on the other girl's face, but decided not to say anything. She knew how Veronica hated to show weakness.

After a few seconds the pain subsided again to a dull throbbing and Veronica sighed, "I knew there was a reason I never took the bus."

Meg resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead decided to ignore the girl's comment, "Can you move at all?"

Veronica looked down at her own body as well as she could, but found that from the waist down she was effectively trapped under some very heavy piece of bus and in the position she was in it was near impossible to lift her left arm at all. Her right arm was trapped underneath her own body at an awkward angle, but she knew she could free it if she just tried a little. Slowly and painfully she managed to wriggle it out from underneath of her, freeing Meg's left arm as well in the process. More pain washed over her body and she completely stilled her movements until it subsided again, cursing the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

"Veronica," Meg said softly, resting her now freed left hand on the other girl's shoulder, willing her to stop moving. The blonde met her eyes again and Meg saw her blink away the tears. "Stop moving, you're just hurting yourself."

Veronica sighed, resting her right arm alongside Meg's body and closed her eyes, "You should push out from under me; with both arms free you can probably just push me off."

Meg frowned and looked at the girl, waiting for Veronica to open her eyes until she spoke, "I'm not gonna hurt you like that."

"Come on, this is your perfect chance to punish me for whatever it is that I did," Veronica ground out, partially jesting, yet Meg still heard the bitterness underneath.

Meg sighed, a sinking feeling in her stomach at hearing those words. She had never meant to really alienate and eventually hurt the other girl like she had. She'd been angry and jealous and in stupidity she had lashed out at the one person she really cared about. It just hadn't been easy, seeing the two of them together. It wasn't always easy being the good girl.

"I don't hate you, you know," Meg said softly, her voice breaking slightly at the words. This wasn't a conversation she had ever wanted to have, let alone here, injured, trapped under wreckage and quite possibly facing death in a matter of hours.

"Could've fooled me," the other girl said, so quietly Meg barely heard her, but it was there. The hurt and betrayal Meg would've never expected to hear from Veronica. Veronica Mars didn't let people walk all over her and hurt her, no, she got even. Meg swallowed the lump in her throat and averted her eyes. As far as deathbed confessions went, these had been pretty crappy.

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed this, I'm glad there's interest in this pairing - I got tons of plans! Also, sorry for the delay in updating, I'm not always the fastest as my work is pretty stressful and just kills my muse. The reviews definitely help though, so keep them coming!**

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They lay in silence for what seemed an eternity, aware only of the rise and fall of each other's chests and the quiet thud-thud of their heartbeats. Meg now definitely heard shouts from above and she drew strength from the fact that perhaps help was already on its way. She was determined not to die out here, like this, especially not if someone had intentionally sent that bus over the edge.

And then there was the issue of Veronica. Meg certainly had conflicting feelings about the other girl, but whatever bitterness and anger she had channeled into her consciousness for the past few weeks, they seemed to be lessening as they continued to be trapped.

Meg looked down at the other girl, noticing Veronica's eyes were closed once again. Reaching down she gently brushed some strands of blood-tinted hair out of the other girl's face, immediately recoiling when she realized what she was doing.

"We need to get out of here." Veronica's voice made her jolt, something she regretted immediately as she was greeted with more pain, but she hadn't thought the other girl was actually awake.

"Where exactly do you plan on going?" Meg responded, feeling some of that snideness slip back into her voice in defense of her recent actions.

Veronica shifted part of her weight onto her right arm and managed to lift her upper body an inch or two off of Meg's. The pain in her body was all-consuming, hot and throbbing, shooting along every nerve ending she could possibly imagine, but she couldn't just lay here and do nothing. She could barely lift her head, as if it weighed an extra hundred pounds and the exertion of these mere few actions was making her whole body tremble.

Gritting her teeth, she looked at Meg, "Just push out from under me."

Knowing Veronica was too stubborn to give up on this inane plan to get out, Meg tried to slide away from the other girl. She felt the pain in her limbs, particularly her right leg, and sucked in a deep breath, really the first deep one since they'd been trapped. But even with Veronica pushing herself up slightly, Meg could barely move. Putting her hands against the other girl's shoulders she pushed slightly, trying to create just a few extra inches of space for her to slip out.

The sob that escaped Veronica's lips nearly made Meg's heart stop. Looking at Veronica's face, she noticed the other girl's features contorted in pain, tears leaking out between squeezed shut eyes. Meg wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the girl and make the pain go away, but she knew better than that.

"Veronica," she said sternly, wanting just to get through to the hard-headed girl, "stop."

"I'm fine," the blonde bit out between clenched teeth, clearly having a hell of a time to just keep her voice steady.

"Well, I'm not, so stop," Meg lied, having it come out a lot more harshly than she'd intended, but she was starting to grow tired of Veronica always pretending like nothing bothered her. Any fool could've seen she was in agony, and although Meg wasn't going to call her on it, she wasn't going to let Veronica continue to torture herself in some feeble attempt to move five inches to the other side of the rock. So what was a little half lie between...former friends?

Meg's words, however, had their intended effect and Veronica relaxed immediately back onto her body, arms resting by Meg's sides. Veronica's breathing was coming in short gasps, near hyperventilation, as she waited for the agonizing pain to ebb away. Meg watched her, a frown of concern marring her features and ran her hand down the other girl's arm in some hope of providing comfort. She was starting to ignore that part of her that warned her every time one of her thoughts or actions went that 'dangerous' way, what good would it do her to keep everything locked up inside if she was about to die anyway?

Silence enveloped them again for a few moments, before Veronica's quiet voice broke through it. "I'm sorry," she said softly, but with a quiet determination that was normally so common in her voice that hearing it now made Meg feel just a little bit better.

"It's okay," Meg responded immediately, assuming the other girl was referring to their recent attempt at untangling themselves from each other.

"No, I mean...I'm sorry...for you and Duncan breaking up and that you think I stole him from you. I never planned to split you guys up, I promise," Veronica said softly, locking eyes with Meg to make sure the other girl knew how serious she was.

Meg stared at her, unsure of what to say. She hadn't expected that she would ever have this talk with Veronica, assuming instead that she would just go on being a bitch to the blonde and frown at the couple in the hallways. She hadn't really admitted the truth to herself, yet, how could she share it with someone else? With Veronica of all people?

She wasn't sure whether Veronica was waiting for a response from her, but the silence between them suddenly became oppressive and awkward. Meeting the other girl's eyes, Meg felt her heart pick up speed once again and her mouth went dry. How could her body still produce such basic adrenal responses when she was dying on some rock in the middle of the ocean?

"I don't care about Duncan," Meg finally said, still locking eyes with Veronica.

"You're a horrible liar, Meg. You haven't been acting like this for nothing, so unless I ran over your dog without knowing it, I'd say you were pissed that Duncan and I are together."

Meg laughed and managed to smirk at the other girl, despite the turmoil inside of her, despite the pain clouding her thoughts. "I didn't say I wasn't pissed, Veronica; I said it wasn't Duncan that I cared about."

The blonde frowned, eyebrows drawn together in confusion and Meg chuckled. "You know, for a private eye sometimes you're very dense."

Meg wasn't sure what demon had possessed her, forcing her to be so open, but she figured it might be the blood loss or knock on the head that had done it. Maybe it was the way Veronica was looking at her, or the way her body was pressed against hers, the way the blonde's fingertips kept brushing against the side of Meg's arm – really, it could've been any of those things making her so bold.

"It wasn't you that I was jealous of, Veronica," Meg said, fingers of her left hand nervously playing with the collar of her shirt.

Veronica stared at her, eyes opening a little wider at the realization of what exactly that meant. Meg watched the expression on her face change from surprise back to what she assumed was complete indifference and heard Veronica respond in mock shock, "But...you're a cheerleader!"

Meg managed a wry smile and averted her eyes, feeling the panic start to creep in. But before she knew it, her still nervously fiddling fingers were stilled by another hand that wrapped around hers in silent comfort. Meg didn't return her gaze to the other girl's, but smiled softly as she squeezed Veronica's hand now intertwined with hers resting across her chest. As far as deathbed confessions went, these were a whole lot better.

_To be continued..._  



	3. Chapter 3

_So once again sorry for the long delay, i'm the worst at updating and I apologize. You all have been so great with reviewing this and I'm thrilled there's so much interest in this pairing. Originally this fic was supposed to end after the last part, however, I decided to extend it a little to not leave you all hanging too much. So this will be the last part of this fic, but before you all try to kill me, I am already planning the sequel. After seeing how much interest there was in this pairing, I decided to write a Meg/Veronica story that was a little more evolved. But for now...enjoy_

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"Veronica." 

"Meg."

"Do you think anyone is going to find us?"

Veronica looked up, locking eyes with the other girl and wished she was less of a pessimistic person for once, "Well, it'd be pretty hard to miss a big, yellow bus going over the edge of a cliff, right? And the limo was right behind us."

Meg looked away, averting her gaze to their hands still laying intertwined on her chest, marveling at the feeling. The blonde girl's hand was nothing like her boyfriends' had been; it was soft and smaller, gentle even in the tight grip they had on each other. "Do you think Duncan's up there? He must be going crazy."

Frowning slightly at the mention of her boyfriend's name, as well as the combination of 'Duncan' and 'crazy' in the same sentence, Veronica sighed, "He'll be alright. He'll find someone new."

Meg opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it. She wasn't entirely sure what scenario the other girl was referring to – was Veronica alluding to her impending death or that perhaps she was going to dump Duncan for...someone else? However, Meg had no plans to topple the fragile truce they had just built on top of her confessions; they hadn't talked about what lay between them, but she knew it was unlikely to happen.

Without a response from Meg to keep the conversation going, they once again drifted off into silence. The sun had meanwhile drifted lower in the sky, but she figured it was still sometime in late afternoon. Not too much time could've passed since the accident, but to Meg it felt like an eternity. She had become somewhat accustomed to the constant pain, pushing it to the back of her mind, but the rest of her senses seemed eerily sensitive.

She'd already spent some time in her mind analyzing the feel of Veronica's hand in hers, though to her dismay that hand seemed to be getting colder by the minute. The water lapping at the sides of the rock was cold as well, and when earlier it had reached to where Meg's ankle lay, it now covered to just below her knee. The tide was rising steadily, and Meg knew that during this time of year, the high tide could exceed 18 feet.

She cursed herself for remembering things she learned in Marine Biology class while she lay dying on a rock, instead of spending her last few minutes talking to the other girl or thinking about the ones she loved. Meg looked down at Veronica's face, noting the girl's eyes were once again closed. She felt the blonde's hand twitch in her own and squeezed it lightly.

"Veronica?"

Waiting several seconds for an answer, her heart began to race.

"Veronica?" she tried again, squeezing the blonde's hand harder this time. It was so cold.

Meg swallowed the lump she felt in her throat; it couldn't be too late, not just yet. They'd just been talking not five minutes ago. Reaching across her chest with her right arm, she untangled their fingers from each other, relishing in the fact that Veronica's hand grasped onto her right one immediately. Meg brushed the back of her left hand across the blonde's face, cupping her cheek in hopes of getting her to wake up.

"Veronica...please wake up," Meg tried again, running her slightly warmer fingertips across the nape of the other girl's neck, "come on...you can't just go like that...what happened to getting even?...you have to find out who did this, Veronica." Meg sniffed, realizing for the first time that she was crying.

"It hurts." The response, weak yet somehow determined, shocked Meg not just because it had been unexpected, but also because it was one of the few times Veronica had admitted weakness.

Meg ran her hand through the blonde hair, careful of whatever gash was causing the thin trickle of blood across Veronica's forehead, exhaling weakly, "I know."

Knowing she couldn't let the silence continue this time, she once again splayed her fingers against Veronica's neck, thumb brushing against her cheek, "Open your eyes, Veronica."

Meg wasn't sure from where she was getting the strength in her voice, but Veronica groaned and slowly blinked her eyes open, staring straight at her. "It's so bright."

"Yeah, just...don't go into the light, okay?" Meg said, her voice casual, yet she could still feel the panic of when Veronica had been unresponsive.

Veronica frowned, "I hated that movie; the crazy gnome lady always freaked me out."

Seeing the puzzled look on Meg's face, Veronica clarified, "Poltergeist."

"Oh, right," Meg smiled softly, grateful to just be able to keep the other girl awake, "well, if I have to be crazy gnome lady to keep you from leaving me, so be it."

Veronica smirked weakly, "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Meg was about to respond, when she heard the most dulcet sound she could ever have imagined. The sound of a motorboat and it was getting louder by the second. She tilted her head as best she could, glimpsing the orange and white hull of a rescue boat a few hundred feet from their location. The lump in her throat returned full force, though this time it was out of sheer joy. They were finally going to be rescued.

Turning her head back to Veronica, she smiled whole heartedly this time, "You hear that? We're going to be rescued."

"Too bad we don't have one of those whistles like in 'Titanic'," Veronica said with that inflection in her voice that made Meg's heart flutter. She had a weakness for sarcasm.

"Would that make you Jack or Rose?" she asked, hoping to keep the conversation going until the rescue workers could reach them. She couldn't lose Veronica now, not when they were so close.

Veronica frowned, pretending to think it over, "I don't know, would I rather be the moron who died because I was too stupid to share a float or the idiot who threw a million dollar jewel into the ocean?"

The sound of the motorboat grew louder and now they even heard another one join in. Meg tilted her head back towards the ocean, seeing the boats advancing towards them steadily. Their shape, their movements were mesmerizing to her and she wasn't quite sure whether she wasn't just dreaming them up. She'd heard of dying people having hallucinations and hoped this wasn't one of those cases. Someone had to save them.

"They'll be here soon, Veronica, just hang on," Meg said, moving her hand away from Veronica's face. If the boats got close enough, perhaps she could wave to them.

"Yeah..." the other girl responded, her voice trailing off weakly as she closed her eyes again.

Meg watched her with concern, hoping Veronica could last long enough to make it to a hospital. Suddenly she heard voices off to the side and turned, realizing one of the boats had gotten close enough for her to see the people in it. Meg raised her arm, surprised at how heavy it felt. It was a fight just to lift it in the air and she barely had the strength to move it around, to try and attract their attention. Her arm threatened to fall several times, weighed down as if by lead, but she couldn't give up. She wasn't going to let them die.

It might have taken twenty minutes or five, Meg really wasn't sure of time anymore, but eventually her arm collapsed by her side, the sheer exhaustion of such a simple task making her head spin. The black spots that had accompanied her vision earlier now returned and Meg almost begged them to take her. Just a tiny shred of her was clinging to consciousness and it was that tiny shred that became acutely aware of a warm hand touching her shoulder.

With what little strength remained in her she opened her eyes, not even having noticed she had closed them. Suddenly Meg was staring directly into the bearded face of a middle-aged guy wearing a bright orange rescue jacket. She stared at him incomprehensibly, her mind ten steps away from the rest of her, as he shook her shoulder slightly. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed two more figures in orange moving to her right.

"Are you alright? Can you hear me?" The red-headed man yelled over the engine noise and people shouting, but to Meg his voice came as if through a filter.

She nodded weakly, wondering once again if she was hallucinating. "My name's Thor, what's yours?"

Meg blinked at him, trying to formulate the words required to respond, but stopped when she felt the hand in hers twitch once again. Blinking again she managed to clear the cobwebs away and looked back at the man. "You have to help Veronica, she's really hurt."

Thor nodded at her, one hand resting on her shoulder, the other lightly touching Veronica's back, "Don't worry hun, we'll take good care of your girlfriend. I just wanna make sure you're okay."

Meg frowned at the term he used, her confused mind trying to figure out what she was missing. Perhaps he was mistakingly thinking their awkward positioning had been voluntary, or that they were holding hands because they were dating or that Meg's selfless concern for Veronica meant she was truly in love. Meg knew he was perhaps partially right in his assumption, but that didn't matter one bit at this point. All that mattered was staying alive.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice trailing off at the end. Then, Meg passed out.

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_Alright, alright...please don't kill me, I know I'm evil, but the sequel is already in the works! It's called 'With Sword and Salt' and it'll be coming soon, as long as there's still interest..._


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